Over the weekend a customer contacted us on our emergency contact number (0800 23 2230) they had been told by an emergency plumber that they had a big leak on the water main that serves their property. They wanted an emergency appointment, and we were happy to give it to them.
Our South-East water engineer team arrived at the property first thing Monday morning, we had spoken to the plumber on the phone who suspected that the leak was under the living room. We carried out audio and visual investigations and confirmed that the water leak was under the living room. The property had been extended 10 years ago, and the water main diverted under the lounge and it was running in an awkward location.
We spoke to the customer about the best option going forward, the customer then decided to have the whole supply pipe changed from the boundary to the IST giving them a worry-free water main future. We started these new agreed works straight away.
We started by excavating at the boundary to find the main close to the external stop tap in the footpath. Once we were on the pipe we plotted the route of the new pipe around the side of the property and into the kitchen where we would install a new internal stop tap. We needed to use 3 moling pits these were all under shingle, we brought the pipe round to the rear of the kitchen. We then carried out a breakthrough bringing the pipe into the kitchen before disconnecting the old stop tap and installing a new one.
Once the new supply was connected we tested the system and confirmed the leak was repaired. We then back filled and reinstated our excavations. We left the customer with a guarantee of the works we had carried out before leaving site.
Date of works: 13-15/02/2017
St Address: Berhamstead, Hertfordshire, HP4
Works: Full water main replacement in Berhamstead, Hampshire
Engineers who carried out works: Marcus Humpries and Ross Edwards